Hearing all depends on the following series of events that changes sound waves in the air into electrical pulses that the auditory nerve carries to the brain. The ear has three major parts, described as the outer ear, middle ear and inner ear.
Sound waves enter the outer ear (pinna) travelling through a narrow tube (ear canal) which leads inside the ear to the eardrum (tympanic membrane). The eardrum then vibrates from the incoming soundwaves transmitting the vibrations through three tiny bones otherwise known as the ossicles (the malleus, incus and stapes) into the middle ear. They then amplify the sound and send it through the entrance to the inner ear (oval window) and into the fluid-filled hearing organ (cochlea). This vibration creates ripples in the fluid that bend projections from tiny hair cells in the cochlea, causing electrical impulses that the auditory nerve, or eighth cranial curve sends onto the brain. The brain then translates the impulses into what we experience as sound.

There are different types of hearing loss that people can be affected by:

Conductive hearing loss: Where sound waves are prevented from passing to the inner ear. Causes vary from the build up of ear wax (cerumen), infection, fluid in the middle ear, (ear infection or otitis media) or a punctured eardrum.
Sensorineural hearing loss: This develops when the auditory nerve or hair cells in the inner ear are damaged by aging, noise, illness, injury, infection, head trauma, toxic medications or an inherited condition.

Mixed hearing loss: Combination of both conductive and sensorineural hearing loss. A conductive hearing loss can be often corrected with medical or surgical treatment, while sensorineural hearing loss cannot usually be reversed.
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